Secondly, coloring. I bought two packages of colored pens at the beginning of the year. I have green, orange, light and dark blue, purple, pink, red, and black. I take notes in a different color every day so it’s easy for me to find where the notes from one class period end and the second begins. My history, English, and most of my math notes are in a different color every day. My logic notes and the rest of my math notes are written in two or three colors, with the bulk of the writing in one color, important equations and words in another, and random notes in a third (my notes are blue and the extra writing I put on them is red or pink). I usually do my math homework in blue, purple, and green so I can keep track of the equations better. Sometimes I only write the original problem and the answer in pen so I can do the work in pencil. Sometimes I just rewrite it. Don’t do your homework in pink/orange/red because teachers usually grade in red. Always ask your professor before you turn in rainbowified homework. Colorful flashcards are also super useful.
Third, Google drive. Google docs is a basic word processor by Google that is attached to any gmail. All gmail accounts have them. You get 15gb for free and have the option of buying more (or making another email). I do this so I can work on my papers from any computer without having to worry about flash drives. I can also send the link to anyone I want and allow them to edit, comment, or just review. It also has a chat option where only the people editing the paper can see. It’s great for getting your friends to review a paper because they can leave comments on what needs to be changed, make a few adjustments and bold what they did, and message you explaining what they did or their thoughts on certain parts of your paper. It’s also super useful for group projects. Your entire group can work on writing the paper at once from anywhere instead of relying on one person to do the work or having to schedule meetup times. Google docs also has a small sidebar similar to the clipart sidebar in Microsoft word, but the sidebar in Google docs gives you the option to search the internet from the same window and/or use a dictionary while writing. Google drive also gives you the options of slides, spreadsheets, and a couple more. You can also upload your pictures and pdf files to drive to access them from any computer with internet. It’s completely free unless you want to buy more space.
The fourth relates back to all three. Color code your work. I have an old set of colored dividers in my binder. I keep all my work in drive in folders. My history divider is green, the folder color in drive for history is also green. Logic is blue, music is pink. It makes it easier for me to connect the digital work to the hard copies I have.
Fifth, outside sources. It’s important to use credible sources for research and term papers. Most professors will want you to use articles from a certain database, or will limit your potential sources to articles from peer-reviewed journals. Some of these articles are super hard to understand, especially when you’re in a science-heavy field. Fortunately, most subjects also have been written about in simpler language online. If you have problems understanding your acceptable sources, don’t be afraid to look up the material to make sense of it. Keep two lists of sources, one list of cite-able material and one of incite-able but explanatory articles. Just make sure not to mix them up.
Sixth, work habits. Make sure you learn what situations you work best under. Some people do better if they start writing their papers as soon as they’re assigned, others find it easier to write when they’re under pressure (when the paper is due in a few hours, which is a terrible idea by the way). Some people work best with music playing, others in perfectly quiet spaces, and some prefer to be in a café or other semi-social environment. Find what works best for you to capitalize on your time.
Seventh, find time to take naps. I ride public transportation for an hour to get to school, I am on campus for seven hours, five days a week, and I have another hour bus ride to get home. If I don’t need to do any work on the bus I usually sleep, read, or play Pokemon (more on my slacker habits below). I don’t have classes all seven hours all five days (thank fuck) so I sleep inbetween classes (when I’m not working or playing Munchkin). Everyone is pretty cool with letting people sleep, but sometimes headphones are important. Make sure to keep a phone, ipod, or friend readily available that is guaranteed to be able to wake you up in time for your class (or bus in my case). Sometimes when I get home it’s easier for me to nap for an hour or two and then stay up later to do my work. Again, alarms are important.
Eighth, vegetating is important. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed that I need to not do anything productive for a few hours. This is where I read, watch tv, check tumblr, play Pokemon or Mario Cart, and play card and board games with the other people on campus with me. I have a group of people that I play Mario Cart, Munchkin, and other random board games with on a regular basis. Not only do I get to vegetate, I get to socialize and it’s really fun for all of us.
Ninth, take care of yourself. I vegetate to prevent myself from getting panic attacks (it works, I’ve only had one problem with that all year). If you need more time to yourself, extra sleep time, or need to do anything for your mental health, don’t be afraid to do so. If it’s going to get in the way of your school work, let your professor know. They’re people too, and they’ve been through something similar to what you’re doing now, and they understand that things happen. Most are pretty understanding as long as you talk to them and don’t make excuses. Make sure you eat enough, make sure you drink enough water, keep a reliable supply of cold medicine, ibuprofen, advil, midol, or any other medication you might need on hand. Don’t be embarrassed about any health problems, college students are much more mature than high schoolers and won’t make a big deal about it. Take walks around campus if you need/want exercise, and remember how important sleep is.
Tenth, take advantage of all the cheap and free things you get. There are a lot of places that offer discounts/freebies to anyone with a student id. For example, there are some restaurants and fast food places that will feed you for cheap, the Metropolitan Opera offers student discounts, there are websites that offer way discounted plane tickets, some museums have certain days a week that students can get in for free/cheap, and some schools and public transportation systems agree well enough to provide students with free transportation (I get free bus rides if I show my id, I give the school $13 a semester). Most campuses offer decent internet, you just might have to log in with your student id. Use school wifi to download things instead of draining your own wifi plans with large downloads for school.
Eleventh, online resources are wonderful. There are some really good citations generators that will make your life so much easier. Purdue Owl is the go-to website for anyone who needs to learn how to format papers in a certain style, and it’s a good idea to check your citations from a machine against the sample citations on Purdue. If you’re still having problems, don’t be afraid to ask a classmate for help. Tutors are also an option and there is nothing wrong with seeing one.
Twelfth, side by side windows will make writing and citing so much easier. If you run windows 7, you can have two windows side by side by dragging them against the sides of your screen. I don’t run windows, so I use an extension called tile tabs on Firefox. I just have to tell the program which tabs I want to appear where on my screen and they’re there. This lets me have my outline and essay visible at the same time without printing the outline, which saves me a lot of time that I would have been spending scrolling up and down or switching between two tabs. It also lets me quote or paraphrase an article without copying and pasting, which again saves time.
Thirteenth, write your papers on something that interests you. Most professors give you the freedom to choose the topic of some or all of your papers. If they do, choose something that interests you so you won’t lose interest in the paper as easily.
Fourteenth, don’t be afraid to explain your situation to people. Explain to your professors when you need time for your health, explain to your friends and bosses when you need time to do your work. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You’re in school, you’re there to learn, no one is going to expect you to know everything.
Fifteenth, take advantage of free books. There are a lot of websites that offer free pdf copies of some textbooks. There are a lot of legal websites and a lot of illegal websites, which you use depends on what you’re comfortable with. If you can find one of the books you need for free online, or you can buy a hard copy for $50+, it’s usually better to go with the online copy. The exceptions are if you prefer to have the actual book or if it’s something important relating to your major. If you wanted to go to med school, you would want to buy and keep a lot of your medical textbooks. Same with law, music, history, and pretty much every major. There is nothing wrong with used books. I would rather spend $15-30 on a beat up used book that I’m not afraid to write in than $50+ on a brand new book that I won’t want to write in for fear of causing it to lose value.
Sixteenth, highlighting is really important. Highlight important sections of your pdf sources, print articles and highlight or write on them to make finding important information easier. If you plan on keeping your textbooks, highlight or use pencil to draw your attention to important things (scary equations, major historical patterns, etc). Use torn strips of sticky notes or stickers that are specifically meant to keep track of pages. Color code your stickers and highlights based on content (in a history book I could have one color for religious themes, one for secular themes, etc).
Seventeenth, when your teacher gives you sample papers to keep, make notes of what they’re doing well and what they can do better. I’ve ruined so many papers by framing them off of a sample that my teacher had given me as an example of what not to do. Make notes as your professor goes over the sample material on the paper about what they’re doing well, what is acceptable, and what the paper needs to improve on.
Eighteenth, calenders in any form are important. Usually I have a list of homework due in the next week written on my arm. I have a calendar on my fridge that has all the important school deadlines, homework due dates, days I’m working, days I have plans not related to school, and any phone numbers I might need. At the beginning of each semester I’ve gone through the syllabus from all my classes and written down the important due dates (term papers, tests) on the calender in a planner. Color code the things on your calender (days I work are written in black, history assignments are in green, logic in blue, etc. The exact same colors I use for the folders and dividers for those closes).
Nineteenth, keep track of your grades. If the class has few enough assignments, most professors will list the points for each assignment and the points needed to pass the class in the syllabus. Every time you get an assignment back, write the score on the syllabus next to the possible points. That way you can easily calculate your grade without having to find all of your assignments.
Twentieth, extra credit is just as important as the mandatory coursework. If your professor offers extra credit, take it. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t have time, but it’s definitely worth doing if you can. Most professors try to make the extra credit work fun or helpful to the course. My math professor assigns extra credit to guarantee that we understand the material, my music professor does it to guarantee that most of her students pass, my logic professor does it for both of those. My history professor has done it in the past to help us connect the coursework to the real world and to demonstrate how the things we were studying still affected the modern world.
Twenty first, don’t rely on a curb. There are so many students that are in my classes and have been in classes with me in the past that have relied on the curb and have failed or are failing currently. Try to get the best score possible on the mandatory coursework and tests, because it is never guaranteed that a class or test is going to be curbed. It’s amazing when it happens, but relying on it happening and then failing because it didn’t isn’t going to help you at all.
This list is by no means complete and I will add to it as I think of and remember more things. Feel free to add more tips you might have.
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